Kevin “Kingpin” Johnson
continued to make a case as the best American heavyweight in the division when he dominated 2004 Olympic US team captain
Devon Vargas for a sixth round technical knockout victory at Harrah's Resort and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey in the main event of ESPN2 Friday Night Fights. "Don’t blink during my fight with Vargas," Johnson (22-0-1, 9 KOs) told FightNews on Thursday, "because it won’t last that long."

He was right.

Johnson knocked Vargas (17-1, 7 KOs) down with combinations at the end of the third and fifth frames before his corner threw in the towel with just 37 seconds remaining in the sixth round.

Numerous, flush left hooks connected in the third to hurt Vargas and forced him to take a knee. Though he went down in the fifth too, Vargas fought back bravely and landed some shots of his own. Johnson resumed command in the following round, however, and with their man taking punishment on the ropes, the corner of Vargas elected to call a halt.

Vargas was a last week replacement for Monte Barrett who was forced to withdraw from the fight after suffering an injury during preparation.

Johnson, who had been criticized in the past for being overly cautious, has now scored three knockout victories in a row.

"I don’t chase knockouts," Johnson said, "I chase success. If the knockout is there, I take it but I’m not going to go out there and get sloppy just because somebody else looks good knocking out guys with 11-30 records."

Johnson didn't look sloppy on Friday night and he still got the TKO win, putting the heavyweight division on notice that there is some fresh blood in the weight class after all.

TERON GETS REVENGE!

New York lightweight Jorge Teron avenged his only professional loss to date when he turned the tables on Aldo Valtierra to win a ten round unanimous decision.

Teron (23-1-1, 15 KOs) lost a majority decision to Valtierra last December.

This time, however, “The Truth” prevailed.

Teron did all the things many expected him to do in their first encounter. He was busier, more accurate and quicker with his punches. Valtierra (25-11, 13 KOs) continued to plod forward throughout the fight but couldn’t put enough punches together to disrupt his opponent’s rhythm.